What Is Microsoft DirectX?
Microsoft is one of the biggest players in the software market, producing their extremely popular operating systems like XP, Vista, and the current Windows 7 as well as a variety of other popular software tools like Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Office. Microsoft Directx is another piece of valuable software that makes many of the complex graphics and multimedia functions of your computer possible.
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Basics
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Directx is a series of APIs, or Application Programming Interfaces, that handles multimedia-related functions on a computer, including video and video game programming and graphics. An API is an interface, typically used by a software program like Directx, that enables certain pieces of software to interact with other pieces of software. Directx contains has gone through many changes over the years and contains several programs designed to facilitate multimedia. Think of it as a package of tools used by artists and computer or game programmers for creating graphics and video games.
Components
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Every issue of Directx, which is currently in its eleventh generation (Directx 11), contains certain components which work together for multimedia editing, particularly in the gaming field. DirectDraw and Direct2D are used for drawing 2D graphics while Direct3D draws the now more common 3D graphics. DirectWrite handles fonts. DirectCompute handles GPU and CPU computing. DirectInput handles the incorporation of interface devices such as mice and keyboards. DirectPlay for communication over local-area or wireless networks. DirectSound and DirectSound3D for the recording and playback of waveform sounds. DirectMusic for the recording and playback of music, typically recorded using the DirectMusicProducer. There's DirectX Media which is a compilation of several components, as well as DirectX Media Objects, and finally a DirectSetup which is used for the installation of all aforementioned components.
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DirectX Media and Objects
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DirectX Media is a separate set of APIs that complements DirectX and is typically contained in the same package. DirectX Media includes DirectAnimation, available in both 2D and 3D, for creating web-based animation, DirectShow, which is used for playback and to stream multimedia, DirectX Transform, which is used to implement web-based interactivity into graphics and Direct3D, which is used for high-end 3D graphics. DirectX Media objects contains support files for streaming objects, and includes graphical effects, both 3D and 2D, like slow-downs and wobbles.
History
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DirectX was originally created with game design in mind. MS-DOS, which preceded Windows 95, was an easier platform for game designers because it did not restrict access to components like mice, keyboards, sound devices, etc. Knowing that sales may be limited with Windows 95 because of these limitations, Microsoft created DirectX for release in 1995 to alleviate these issues and give game designers what they wanted. Simply put, DirectX was created to attract game developers to Microsoft's operating systems, with an exclusive version being implemented within Microsoft's gaming console, the Xbox, which was released in 2001.
There have been numerous other versions of DirectX released, each one containing an update over its predecessor. DirectX 2.0 was released in June of 1996 and DirectX 3.0 was released in September of 1996. DirectX 4.0 was never officially launched, leading to the release of 5.0 in July of 1996. DirectX 6.0 was released in August of 1997, and the next version, DirectX 7.0, was not released until September of 1999. DirectX 8.0 was released in November of 2000, and version 9.0 was released in December of 2002. DirectX 10 was released in November of 2006 and DirectX 11 in October of 2009.
Other APIs
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DirectX is not exclusively used by game developers. Other popular APIs for producing multimedia graphics, sounds, etc. include OpenMax, SDL, Allegro, FMOD, OpenML, OpenCL, OpenAL and Wine.
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References
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